Nevada’s Senate Judiciary Committee has voted to establish a commission designed to study the legalization of marijuana.

House Bill 215 will now move towards a vote by the full Senate. Given it has already been passed by the full House of Representatives, passage in the Senate would send it to Governor Chris Sununu for consideration.

The 22-person commission would be tasked with examining “the possible impacts of changing state policy to treat marijuana in a manner similar to the way the state deals with alcohol and shall study the legalization, regulation, and taxation of marijuana including the specific issues related to growing, selling, taxing, limiting use, advertising, promoting, and otherwise regulating marijuana and marijuana-infused edible products.”

The commission “shall also study the experiences of New Hampshire and other states regarding the use of marijuana for medical purposes and for recreational purposes”, and “shall also study the experiences of states that have or are in the process of legalizing and regulating the recreational use of marijuana by adults, with particular attention to be given to the ways the changes in marijuana laws in Maine and Massachusetts, as well as Canada, impact our state.”

In addition, the commission “shall study any other issue that the commission deems relevant to its objective”, and may “solicit the advice or testimony of any organization or individual with information or expertise relevant to its study.”

According to the proposal the members of the commission shall be as follows:

(a) Five members of the house of representatives, appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives.

(b) Two members of the senate, appointed by the president of the senate.

(c) The attorney general, or designee.

(d) The commissioner of the department of safety, or designee.

(e) The commissioner of the department of health and human services, or designee.

(f) The commissioner of the department of revenue administration, or designee.

(g) The commissioner of the department of agriculture, markets, and food, or designee.

(h) A representative of the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police, appointed by that organization.

(i) A representative of the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union, appointed by that organization.

(j) A representative of New Futures, appointed by that organization.

(k) A representative of the Marijuana Policy Project, appointed by that organization.

(l) A representative of the New Hampshire Bar Association, appointed by that organization.

(m) A representative of the New Hampshire Medical Society, appointed by that organization.

(n) A representative of the New Hampshire Farm Bureau Federation, appointed by that organization.

Anthony Martinelli

Anthony is co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of TheJointBlog. He has worked closely with numerous elected officials who support cannabis law reform, including as the former Campaign Manager for King County (WA) Councilmember Dave Upthegrove. He has been published by multiple media outlets, and is a former contributor for Village Voice Media.